Sunday Edition: 15th March

Disclosure: S3 Consortium Pty Ltd and its associated entities may hold direct or indirect interests in securities referred to in this publication and may receive fees or other forms of consideration from entities mentioned. These interests and arrangements may create a potential conflict of interest in the preparation of this material.

The information contained in this communication is provided for general information purposes only and may relate to speculative investments. It does not constitute financial product advice, and has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any investment decision.

Any forward-looking statements are uncertain and not a guaranteed outcome.

Yesterday we wrote about the “SaaSpocalypse” being overdone.

We think there are currently some great ASX listed SaaS businesses out there with share prices that have taken a big haircut in recent weeks, and valuations are very attractive during peak SaaSpocalypse fear.

We just took a pretty big swing at a placement into an ASX listed SaaS company, we can’t say who yet but we can reveal once it starts trading again tomorrow.

We also provided an update on each of our favourite themes for 2026.

(silver, gold, military metals, AI metals, robot metals, energy and oil & gas)

Silver is still one of our favourite themes for the next 12 months.

(waiting for that next leg up in the silver price that should lift all silver stocks)

Here are all the silver stocks we are Invested in - we’re making a list, this time we’re checking it twice (click the link to read our Investment Memo for the stock):

• SS1 ($301M) - Silver (& antimony) in Nevada, USA.
• IVR ($188M) - Silver in South Australia.
• BKB ($119M) - Silver in Texas (gold in Nevada), USA.
• WCE ($67M) - Silver in Western Australia.
• MTH ($63M) - Silver (and gold) in Mexico.
• RCM ($55M) - Silver in New South Wales.
• AVM ($47M) - Silver in Mexico (and gold in Victoria).
• PFE ($10M) - Silver (& antimony) in Arkansas, USA.

(you can see all our live holdings of all our Portfolio stocks at any time here)

Read our full Saturday note here: We Survived the SaaSpocalypse (Here is Our Next Move) Plus our favourite themes for 2026

Below you can find everything we wrote about last week, plus some interesting stuff we came across on our travels.

Quick Takes: LSR, BPM, SGQ, TTM, CAY, RML, WCE

Deep Dives: HVY, ILA, LSR, LKY

Our exploration Investment Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) secured a drill rig for a 10,000m RC drilling program at its 100% owned Ned's Creek Gold Project in WA.

Set to begin in late March, the campaign is targeting three main prospects aiming to define a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) in CY2026.

In December, LSR put out an Exploration Target of 250,000-300,000 oz gold at 1-1.7 g/tonne across those three prospects.

LSR work on its WA gold asset is running simultaneously with LSR's copper drilling in Chile and progress at its heavy rare earths project in the USA.

(Check out LSR’s Chilean copper drilling visuals in the deep dive section below.)

Our gold exploration Investment BPM Minerals (ASX:BPM) has re-commenced exploration at its Forelands Gold Project in the Eastern Goldfields, WA.

A 7,500m RC drilling program is set for later this month, chasing depth extensions at the Beachcomber Main Lode and testing further west below the previously undrilled soil anomalies, including a 700m long anomaly at Beachcomber NW.

Meanwhile, soil sampling is underway at the "moonshot" Bonnie & Clyde target, which shares geological parallels with the 8Moz Tropicana deposit along trend further to the north.

Our rare earths and niobium Investment St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) released more 100m+ fully mineralised intercepts from its project in Brazil.

Three diamond drill rigs and one RC rig continue 24/7 at SGQ’s project.

Highlights from this week’s batch of assays included 160.65m @ 3.74% total rare earths and 0.54% niobium from the surface, with all reported holes ending in mineralisation.

These results follow a recent Mineral Resource Estimate upgrade boosting the resource size by 75% - currently the third highest-grade Western REE deposit - so based on recent assay results there is potential for further material resource expansion.

We noticed a few holes have now been drilled out to the east of the project, well outside the resource area, so we await these results as mineralisation extending out there would add large tonnage to the resource.

Also this week, SGQ signed a strategic alliance with Brazilian nano materials company Nanum Nanotecnologia.

This is aimed at developing technology for extracting cerium and lanthanum early in the processing of its Brazilian rare earth resource.

This could increase the concentration of high value (neodymium-praseodymium) NdPr and other heavy rare earths remaining by threefold which would create a premium product.

Nanum would then convert the extracted cerium into commercial nanocerium products, so this plan coming off would be a win-win for both.

Our gold and copper Investment Titan Minerals (ASX:TTM) is on track for a Resource Upgrade this quarter from its current 3.1M ounce gold, 22M ounce silver Dynasty project in Ecuador.

This week’s drill results hit bulk porphyry mineralisation deeper than the existing high-grade resource.

This confirmed mineralisation extends over 500m of strike and 600m depth at this Kaliman porphyry area, which may add bulk zones that could meaningfully increase scale and mine life.

TTM has mentioned prior that it’s targeting a 5Moz gold equivalent resource estimate, and is currently negotiating terms for a corporate transaction major shareholder Lingbao Gold (source)

Our bauxite Investment Canyon Resources (ASX:CAY) has mobilised a surface miner to site at its Tier 1 project in Cameroon.

So it looks like CAY remains on track from the recent project update to officially commence mining before the end of March.

Stage 1 development remains fully funded through to first shipment, expected in Q3 2026, with locomotives arriving by mid-late Q2.

CAY is also advancing an alumina refinery feasibility study leveraging Cameroon's vast and cheap hydroelectric power, expected to be released in Q3.

(this week we also caught a podcast from Money of Mine with “Aluminium Alan”, who goes into the current market dynamics which appear to be positive looking ahead for producers, see it here (also in the video section below)).

Our US gold / critical minerals Investment Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML) is heading to California later this month to present at the 38th Annual Roth Conference.

This is one of the biggest small-cap investor conferences in the United States.

This is the same Roth Capital, which previously co-managed a US$400M raise for RML's ~$5.5BN neighbor Perpetua Resources, whose resource appears to come from the same geological intrusion.

Roth is also running the RML’s NASDAQ listing, which it hopes will enable it to attract investors looking for the next Perpetua, right next door at the Horse Heaven project.

RML has previously said it is planning a 57-hole drilling program (this week confirming ~13,716m of drilling) in the first half of this year ahead of a maiden resource announcement following its gold discovery at Golden Gate.

Our silver Investment West Coast Silver (ASX:WCE) identified 20 regional targets with some near and along strike of its Elizabeth Hill Mine in WA.

These came from the results from a recent magnetic drone survey.

Eight of these targets sit within 1.2km of the historic high-grade mine, lined up along the Munni Munni fault in a "pearls-on-a-string" pattern.

WCE plans to use IP surveys to refine these targets and will commence follow-up RC drilling this month near the mine area, aiming for a maiden resource to follow in H2.

Heavy Minerals (ASX:HVY)

It's mainly the “popular” critical minerals getting all the attention in the market...

But some of the lesser known “industrial minerals” needed for critical industries have been catching a bid lately too.

(industrial minerals are important inputs into the production process, not into the final product itself).

Garnet is an important industrial mineral used in high-precision manufacturing, global shipbuilding, defence infrastructure, and heavy engineering.

We first Invested in Heavy Minerals (ASX:HVY) in 2023 for its development stage Port Gregory garnet project in WA.

HVY’s original asset has a scoping study which returned a Net Present Value of $253M, a PFS is due in Q3 and the asset sits right next door to the biggest garnet producer in the world.

Then ~6 weeks ago, HVY signed a deal with a copper miner to extract garnet from copper tailings.

This new project could take HVY from garnet project developer to garnet producer by the end of this year.

Our rough calcs show that just from this new project - $32M capped HVY could generate up to ~$31.1M in gross revenue for the first 3 years, followed by up to ~$62.2M per year after that...

(more on these rough calcs in the link below, including all assumptions and caveats)

HVY says it's already “progressing discussions with multiple funders” for the $25M to $30M needed to build this plant.

So HVY now has two projects it’s working on - with the strategy being that quicker cashflow from the new South Australian asset can partially fund CAPEX of the much bigger, original WA project.

HVY’s deal is with ASX listed South Australian copper miner Hillgrove Resources to:

• Take the garnet rich tailings (waste) from a producing copper-gold mine in South Australia (Hillgrove Resources),
• process the tailings,
• Extract valuable industrial use Hardrock Almandine Garnet, and;
• Sell that garnet for cash.

This week HVY defined an Exploration Target for Garnet at Hillgrove’s deposit and tailings storage facility (TSF) of 30Mt to 50Mt grading between 17% to 25%.

(5.1Mt to 12.5Mt of contained garnet)

An exploration target is an early-stage, conceptual estimate of the potential size and grade (or quality) of mineralisation in a defined geological setting, where there is not yet enough data to classify a mineral resource.

The Exploration Target is split into two parts:

• 2.6Mt to 6.3Mt of contained garnet in the tailings storage facility.
• 2.6Mt to 6.3Mt of contained garnet from the “Fresh Tailings” - basically the rejects intercepted from Hillgrove Resources copper concentrator at Kanmantoo Copper Mine.

(source)

Read more: HVY: Here come industrial minerals - new garnet exploration target, first production by end of year

Island Pharmaceuticals (ASX:ILA)

We recently listened to a podcast (2.6M views) where an ex-CIA guy talks about some of the risks the USA sees with the Iran regime and the current war.

He specifically talks about the 2025 US Annual Threat Assessment report produced by the US intelligence community.

In the podcast, he quoted from the report:

“Iran was unlikely to pursue the development of nuclear enrichment or nuclear weapons”

“instead their primary concern was that Iran was going to focus resources into the research of biological and chemical weapons”

(links to this podcast and the 2025 US Annual Threat Assessment Report plus more commentary below)

So now that things have been kicking off with Iran (and they have been lashing out at many countries), if the US is paying attention to their own 2025 Annual Threat Assessment report, biodefence could (should?) become a key focus area.

(meaning finding cures and treatments against bioweapons and then stockpiling them).

Our 2025 Biotech Pick of the Year, Island Pharmaceuticals (ASX:ILA)’s, biodefence drug has already been shown to be effective against ~20 viruses in lab tests - many of which sit in the “weaponisable” category (read more here)

ILA’s current focus and most advanced treatment is for Marburg disease.

Marburg is the only Category A bioterrorism threat (the highest level) with NO current vaccine or FDA-approved treatment - which also makes it the biggest biowarfare risk.

That also means the US has no stockpiles of any Marburg treatments or vaccines.

Making an FDA approved Marburg drug a strong candidate for US government stockpile contracts - which can range between $US100M to US$1.2BN with an average US$467M over the lifetime. (source)

ILA’s Marburg treatment has qualified for the FDA’s Animal Rule - a special “urgency” approval ruling given by the US FDA to bypass human trials that can cut 10 to 15 years off US FDA approval for a drug.

ILA is also eligible for a PRV voucher - basically if FDA grants this to ILA, it can sell the voucher on the open market, recent pricing has been circa US$100M to US$200M cash - pretty handy for a A$125M capped company if can pull in this kind of cash.

(more on FDA’s Animal Rule and the PRV voucher system in the link below)

In recent weeks, ILA has signed research agreements with US Department of War adjacent biosecurity labs and research institutions.

Read more: Countering biowarfare. ILA to plug the hole in the US “defence against bioweapons” stockpile?

Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR)

We have been talking a lot about the metals needed to feed the global AI and AI robot buildout.

AI and AI robots do work in return for electricity...

(not for salaries like us meat sacks).

Copper will be crucial for AI and AI robots because it’s the metal that carries the massive amounts of electricity and data needed to run energy‐hungry data centers, smart devices, and autonomous robots.

(and as the AI and AI robot boom gathers steam, the copper price is hitting new all time highs).

This week, our $14M capped exploration Investment Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) hit “visible chalcopyrite (copper sulphide)” across multiple intervals from 190m all the way to the end of the hole at 600m.

That's zones of copper over ~410m.

With the hole ending in mineralisation (where the intensity of visible sulphides looks to be getting stronger).

From the first ever drill hole into this project.

Here are some photos of the drill core showing visible chalcopyrite:

(source)

We note these are visual estimates only. Assay results will ultimately determine whether or not this is actually economic grade copper. We stress that visual sulphide abundance does not directly correlate with copper grade.

This is from a completely blind, never drilled before target sitting in Chile (monster copper country).

“Blind” exploration means no mineral outcrop at surface, no obvious visual expressions, and very little target generation work to figure out the best place to drill - it was more drilling on a geologist's “hunch”.

(Drilling “blind” is a high risk manoeuvre, so our and the market’s expectations on this drill were pretty low - and its looking very good so far)

Assay results are due next quarter; this is where we find out what specific copper grades are present (as opposed to a site geologist estimating by eyeball).

This is when we will really find out what LSR could be sitting on...

Read more: LSR's “blind” moonshot copper drilling - 1st hole: visible copper sulphides from 190m to 600m, ending in mineralisation.

Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY)

It looks like the US is preparing to unleash a second wave of capital to revive its domestic critical minerals industry.

Continuing its urgent efforts to reduce its dependency on Chinese imports of critical minerals used in military applications.

It started in July last year when the US Department of War invested US$400M into the USA’s critical metals champion MP Materials, and subsequently announced billions in further funding for US-based critical minerals projects.

Our Investment Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY) sits directly next door to the Pentagon’s first critical minerals Investment, MP Materials.

Two days ago:

The Pentagon was reported to be headhunting investment bankers from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Bank of America to build an “economic defense unit”....

To help deploy funds over three years into other projects to support the military. (source)

12 days before that:

The Pentagon was out soliciting a domestic supply of 13 specific critical minerals “from over 1,500 companies”. (source)

And on that same day:

The Defence Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) opened up funding for projects (up to US$500M per proposal) that can produce critical minerals inside the US with a strict 20th of March deadline for proposals. (source)

That’s all inside the last few weeks...

There is also everything else that happened last year (deals by JP Morgan, Apple... the list goes on).

LKY has a previously producing antimony project that sits right next door to MP Materials, the first company to receive a big funding package from the US government (and Apple).

(LKY also owns that block inside MP Material’s project area - prospective for rare earths).

(source)

LKY is working to get its multi-level, historically producing antimony mine back into production (more on this in a second).

(Including drilling to find more antimony right now, so assay results could be announced any day)

LKY was also one of the first on the ASX to really start positioning its project as a potential source for critical minerals supply - in California on the Nevada border.

Five months ago, LKY produced the first US-sourced, US-processed antimony ingot in decades.

(source)

BUT...

It’s not just the SUPPLY of raw critical military metals that China dominates.

China also dominates the complex PROCESSING of the raw materials into the final form needed by the military.

(~80% of all processed antimony comes from China) (source)

This week, LKY announced it had successfully processed its raw antimony into a 99.5% purity antimony trioxide product at bench scale:

(source)

100% USA sourced and made:

(source)(source)

Antimony ore is one thing - but really it's the high purity antimony trioxide that is the critical input for military applications - stuff like munitions primers, military electronics and flame retardant systems.

Clearly not ideal for the USA if their key adversary China dominates ~48% of antimony supply (source) AND ~80% of processing (source).

Read more: LKY: Produces 99.5% antimony trioxide. Used in ~72% of military equipment. 100% USA sourced. First on the ASX.

The New Money - Blue Moon Metals is acquiring Utah’s Apex mine from Teck Resources to restart domestic gallium and germanium production, securing critical minerals for US semiconductors and defence.

This shows interest in this space appears to be heating up even further, perhaps even a sign of further M&A to come during the year.

Our Investment AW1 is expecting to be drilling its indium project that also sits in Utah which contains gallium that has barely been assayed for historically, so is a focus of this program.

The project sits on a similar geological setting to the Apex mine, so we await for an update that the drill rig has arrived on site.

CTIA - Tungsten concentrate prices hit a record RMB 1 million/ton, up 600% since 2025 as strategic supply shortages and rising military demand create a seller's market.

Seems like the tungsten price is going up each day, a good environment for both of our Investments VKA & RML who are rapidly progressing historically producing tungsten projects.

Reuters - The Pentagon is recruiting elite Wall Street bankers for a new “Economic Defense Unit” to weaponise financial markets with an expected US$200BN to deploy over 3 years for defence deals.

X (@ctindale) - Craig reposted this infographic from Robert Friedland), showing the critical minerals in a tomahawk missile, he added some poignant words relating to how reliance on foreign resources has shaped the current situation.

“Control the matter and the machinery that shapes it, and you quietly inherit the power above it.”

The New Money - REalloys raised $50 million to expand its heavy rare earth refining and magnet production, backed by a Pentagon contract and a major Saskatchewan processing partnership.

REalloys has an MoU with our Investment SGQ which was recently extended, REalloys has government contracts to produce magnets and requires suitable feedstock, so seeing them raising money and expanding production could be a positive sign for SGQ.

And some more coverage on REalloys a couple of days later...

The New Money - REalloys is building North America’s largest heavy rare earth metallization facility in Ohio to process dysprosium and terbium for U.S. military magnets, bypassing Chinese supply chains.

The Australian - Lynas Rare Earths secured a floor price deal with Japan to protect against Chinese market manipulation, providing financial stability for Australian mine expansions and allied supply security.

This is a theme we expect to play out if domestic supply chains are to be created for critical minerals to remove reliance on China’s monopoly in this space. Logically it’s going to cost more for a domestic supply chain, with price floors an option to ensure new supply comes online.

Bloomberg - An Andreessen Horowitz-backed firm is planning to reopen a Utah copper mine, utilising AI and full automation to slash costs and secure domestic supply for the AI and defence sectors.

Bloomberg - The Iran conflict has reignited US interest in EVs as soaring petrol prices and energy security fears “drive” consumers and investors to abandon oil dependent transportation.

FT - The Financial Times detailed oil’s record swing from $119 to $84 on March 9, as London traders battled "video game" volatility following US-Iran conflict escalations.

LinkedIn (Rick Wilkinson - EnergyQuest) - An interesting post about how Australia's gas (not oil/petroleum etc) prices have reacted to the Iran conflict... It turns out it has actually dropped compared to European and Asian prices (Aus prices tend to react to local forces), so for those in Aus, if your gas supplier is blaming a price rise on this perhaps it's a sign to shop around.

FT - China’s network of state-funded "robot farms" are training humanoids to amass data for "embodied intelligence," a pillar of Beijing’s 2026-2030 technology superpower drive.

LinkedIn (Matthew Baker - Coffee and Biotech) - This image with some expanded commentary was posted by a corporate advisor from Blue Ocean Equities, illustrating just how difficult it is to bring a drug successfully to market:

88E - UNLOCKING ALASKA’S UNDER-EXPLORED POTENTIAL ADJACENT TO THE SUPER-GIANTS - SHARPENED STRATEGY MODERN DATA HIGH-VALUE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

CND - Condor Energy: The Giant and The Energy - A unique combination : Multi-billion barrel oil exploration, underpinned by a 1 Tcf discovered gas field in a proven basin.

OD6 Metals Limited (ASX: OD6) | Investor Briefing Webinar | 10 March 2026

Lodestar Minerals hits visible copper at Three Saints as dual drill programs ramp up

St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) A niobium and rare earths project that is shaping up for a strong future

Island Pharmaceuticals (ASX: ILA) - Dr. Daniel Tillett Says Next 12–18 Months Could Be Pivotal for Island Pharmaceuticals

(RML: ASX) Craig Lindsay on Resolution Minerals’ Idaho Antimony, Gold and Tungsten Project

Why Aluminium Just Went Vertical - Money of Mine

"The demand for aluminium... It's just always going up and you know the world needs... at least one new smelter prime aluminium every year..." (09:45)

Quotes like this coming to fruition would be a positive for our Investment CAY which has a study due in Q3 this year on a bauxite refinery to produce aluminium. The key part here is that refining bauxite into aluminium is incredibly energy intensive and Cameroon has vast quantities of cheap and plentiful hydropower which may be a key advantage for CAY.

Apollo’s Rowan Warns of Shakeout Coming for Private Markets

A word of caution...

While we aim to highlight developments in the small cap space, investing in early-stage and small cap companies - like those we cover - is inherently risky.

These companies often face funding challenges, regulatory hurdles, and market volatility. Announcements may reflect aspirations more than guaranteed outcomes.

Things can, and often do, change.

Just because a company has signed a deal, released drill results, or appointed a new director doesn’t mean success is assured.

Always assume delays, cost overruns, or results that don’t pan out.

We’re here to share insights, not offer personal financial advice - so please do your own research and speak with a licensed adviser before acting on anything mentioned.

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Bye for now.

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